Friday, January 23, 2009

LimitedDog Eat Dog Colombia's Oscar submission is a drama about two criminals who break unwritten rules and suffer the consequencesDonkey Punch a supposedly sick and nasty horror flick aboard a yacht. At least it looks like the victimized girls fight backKill Shot I had no idea that Mickey Rourke had another movie out. He's traded in the long blond metal hair for a brunette braid as a killer. Gorgeous Diane Lane isn't safe after witnessing a hit.Outlander Let's talk Jim Caviezel. He got famous for and was completely amazing in an existential Terence Malick WWII film (The Thin Red Line) and then made lots of weird acting choices and then starred as Jesus in that Mel mega-hit and now he's doing low budget sci-fi viking movies. How weird is this career?

WideInkheart Does Brendan Fraser have the tiniest but most lucrative typecasting niche (dad in children's fantasy adventure movies) in the business? In this one he can bring characters to life out of books. But some of those characters shouldn't be let out. Didn't they make this movie twice in the 1990s and call it Jumanjiand Cool World?Underworld 3: Rise of the Lycans You know... (sigh) I have a thing for vampires. I'll see a lot of crap films if there are bloodsuckers. But I'll skip this one. Three films in and I still don't understand what the point of making Werewolf vs Vampire movies are if the beasties fight with guns and swords? That's what happens in other action movies! Give me fangs and claws and things appropriately supernatural. And without the previous film's eye candy of Scott Speedman (delicious even with sickly blue skin & solid black eyes) & Kate Beckinsale (ridiculously tight vinyl costumes? Yes, please!) this is a pass for me.

Oscar Films Let Out of Their Cages...Not one, not two, but 5 Oscar nominees are finally in hundreds of theaters, six if you count The Dark Knight's rerelease. Now that the Academy has deemed them worthy of your eyeballs in ways either major or minor, their distributors have reluctantly signed off on their release. You may commence buying tickets to: Frost/Nixon, Rachel Getting Married, Revolutionary Road, Slumdog Millionaireand The Wrestler. If you do, please report back as the films move from the theoretical to the real for you.

21 comments:

Well, I'll be psyched to see what Rourke does in the new one. I was no big fan of his before (too convincingly creepy), but he totally won me over in The Wrestler, melting face and all. And I wrote a post on my blog about how sad I am about Brendan Fraser. I loved Gods and Monsters. And he was pretty good in The Quiet American...but his "oevre" since then is decidedly ridiculous. I guess the guy has some wicked alimony to keep up with, or something. Sad. I want to like the Lycans because I love...ah, blanking on his name, the aging rock star from Love Actually...but, I'm probably passing on this one as well. I'm half tempted to see Twilight, though. -Elizabeth (www.bagelandamovie.blogspot.com)

That said, it's even more embarrassing when I have to have this conversation with a Starbucks Barista :P

And so as to not come off as a biatch, I'm excited that the Oscar-nominated films are finally let loose (I'm imagining some sort of caged scenario where they've been hibernating for these past few months) - that said I'm all done with Oscar-watching in NYC and can't muster any excitement for anything else coming up. Welcome to not-December season!

OH MY GOD! Rachel Getting Married finally came to my town today and just got back from seeing it. I love this movie! I finally understand all the joyous enthusiasm. Demme's best film has so much rhythm, energy, and life. Easily my favorite of the year.

Also saw The Wrestler. Wow. Aronofsky's film is strong in direction and storytelling. Rourke was phenomenal. Aronofsky really knows how to guide his actors (Rourke, Tomei, Jackman, Burstyn).

I love it that GREAT movies finally get wider releases due to Oscar buzz and nominations. But if these films were released earlier at a wider distribution, there'd be a lot of audiences supporting these films. Not everyone is fortunate to live in big cities.

I just got back from "Revolutionary Road" and I don't think I could be more thrilled with it. From Roger Deakins to Kathy Bates, this movie is jam-packed with top-form work from ace talent. I know you chose her work in "The Reader" as your fave, but I definitely thought Winslet's April Wheeler was the better turn. In fact, I think I can safely say it's my favorite Kate Winslet performance. And Leo -- Leo was excellent. This is the new Hollywood It-Couple and the fact that these two performances are not up for Oscars and Brad and Angelina are is rather infuriating. Michael Shannon was good but Kate and Leo were earth-shaking. Where's the love for them and this amazing movie?

I was at the movies today (also seeing Revolutionary Road - seeing Milk tomorrow!) and they had printed ads on all the movie posters for Oscar nominated movies listing all the categories (like the reader poster had "Best Picture, Best Director" etc stuck on)... the only movie poster that didn't have anything on it (and I saw two of them, neither had anything on them) was Changeling. Apparently the staff at Kino on Collins don't care what awards it is nominated for. lol.

Also, how weird that Kate Beckinsale's ex-husband should be cast in an Underworld movie now that she is no longer starring. How very odd.

Oh Michael Sheen. Constantly hosed by Oscars and overshadowed by your older co-stars, and now you're in some silly movie about Lycans. That's depressing. Star in an undeniable solo lead role and get that damn Oscar nomination, bro!

Just thought I'd point out the racist casting on Killshot (adapted from Elmore Leonard's novel). It really pisses me off when Hollywood does something like casting Mickey Rourke to play a Native American. Are there really no Native American in existence? Seriously? Anyway, Rourke filmed this after Domino.

I think Brendan Fraser is a hunk! But has he ever done a sexy role? I mean, he didn't actually exchange any heat with anyone in GODS AND MONSTERS. Maybe the hottest he's ever been was with Michael Caine? But do you remember his body in GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE? I mean, come on, who wouldn't want him to swing on their vine?

Hard to believe, isn't it billybil? I had to IMDb it to read it for myself. Curious little factoid from his bio there: his father Meyrick "enjoy[ed] some success later in life as a Jack Nicholson impersonator". If he looks anything like Michael, I could kinda imagine that.

The Wrestler and Revolutionary Road have finally made it to the Upper Plains. Saw The Wrestler yesterday with a large audience that really got into it. What a terrific movie. I just hope that Rourke can continue to find great roles after this. And hooray for Marisa Tomei for not being afraid to play a woman who is seen as just a bit too old to be in her line of work. The lines around her eyes said it all.